Lot # 2784: 1880s N342 Thomas H. Hall "Between the Acts and Bravo" Actors and Actresses Collection (95)

Presented is a collection of ninety-five (eighty-five different) N342 Thomas H. Hall "Between the Acts and Bravo" Actors and Actresses trading cards, a large and complex set consisting of more than 500 known subjects issued between the years 1880 and 1892. Condition is 17% Gd to Vg (including a couple Vg-Ex) and 83% Pr to Fr (due mostly to paper loss and/or album residue on the reverses and including approximately ten trimmed). Thomas H. Hall Tobacco cards in general are of very special note as: 1) they are truly among the earliest of all American tobacco insert issues, and in fact the famous 1879 N519 Marquis of Lorne card, which was also issued by Thomas H. Hall Tobacco (and is unmistakably very similar in design to N342), is widely recognized as the very first tobacco insert card, and 2) they are much scarcer than many other nineteenth-century tobacco issues (N342 cards, for example, are much scarcer than Old Judge actresses). In addition to its large size, the N342 set is known for its many variations of front styles and background colors. This collection includes one gold portrait background (Miss Vernon, Fr). Total: 95 cards (85 different).